On the first Sunday of Advent 2015, a friend and I started talking about what we would like to see in terms of mission and outreach. We kept going and then we looked around coffee time was over and the others packing up ready for off. Oops if we are going to keep this conversation
What does restoration look like?
I suppose you could say it is the opposite of brokenness or weakness. There is a school of thought that says that people find it easier to say what t hey don’t want than what you do want. Working on that premise what don’t you want the church to be like? Here are some of
The dreamer gets back onto the narrow path
I woke up with a strange dream this morning. I was standing in front of someone I knew as was both a pastor and a trainer. We were both in a church not dissimilar to a church that we were both associated with. This man was speaking gently to me. I was told that I
What about the Big Society?
For those who don’t know the Big Society is an idea put forward by the new UK government that came to power this summer. They say that their aims include supporting co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises and encouraging people to take an active role in their communities. Well that is the positive side of things. The
Role of philanthrophy in society
I had the car radio on when I went shopping and when I set off for the return journey there was someone talking about philanthropy and the theatre. He was a giver who looked around for good things that he could support. What surprised me was then he said that for the past 30 years theatres
Stop loan sharks
Loan sharks are predatory creatures. They make a meal of the lives of vulnerable people. People who are desperate and think that they have nowhere else to turn. They need to be stopped. How can this be done? They are operating outside the law and the government is trying to look after people by putting
Laziness is not always what it seems
On the face of it this looks like a very obvious statement. Yet I think that there is a deeper meaning that it is easy to overlook. Remember that what comes before doing something is making the decision to try and do it. We have to wake up and acknowledge that something needs to be done
John Wesley and money
imagine having someone in your church who was more concerned to see new churches being built than to make sure that they had meat for lunch. Someone who lived on vegetables and the sort of food that food that those living below what we call the poverty line would have. Someone who considered it a
History makers and The Big Society
For those who don’t know the Big Society is an idea put forward by the new UK government that came to power this summer. They say that their aims include supporting co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises and encouraging people to take an active role in their communities. Well that is the positive side of things. The